Robin Colson

Robin Colson has a 30-year-plus career in performance management consulting, providing professional services to clients in both the public and private sectors. Dr. Colson began her career as a high school teacher before transitioning to corporate training. After earning her Master’s degree, she honed her skills in performance management in Andersen (now Accenture) Consulting’s Change Management division. Upon earning her doctorate, Dr. Colson started her own small company, Infoworks, providing training, instructional design, organizational development, performance improvement, and change management services. Over the past decade, Dr. Colson has worked primarily in higher education. Currently, she manages the Tallahassee Community College Workforce Development Online Learning & Professional Development program, which provides 2,000+ online training courses and certificate programs to adult learners throughout Florida. Prior to this position, Dr. Colson provided research and innovation services to the Florida Virtual Campus, an organization created to support Florida’s 40 colleges and universities in the delivery of online library, learning, and student support services. There, her research focused on adult learner success, hybrid student support systems, and alternative credentialing. In 2019-2020, for example, she and her colleagues conducted a qualitative research study with transfer students from Florida’s community colleges and universities to detail the transfer student journey from the student’s perspective, identifying common pain points statewide and opportunities for improved coordination between colleges and universities. Throughout her career teaching and training almost exclusively adult learners, Dr. Colson has identified one common truth among all adult learners that is in direct contrast with traditional learners: adult learners are people first and students second with needs that are very different from those of traditional learners. She believes it is this truth that makes alternative practices like experiential learning, competency-based learning, and micro-credentialing critical for higher education and lifelong learning as the number of non-traditional students continues to swell, but their success rates remain low in a system designed for traditional learners. Dr. Colson received her BS degree in Health Education from Indiana University and her MS and PhD degrees in Instructional Systems Design from Florida State University.

Publications

Career Ready Education Through Experiential Learning
Career Ready Education Through Experiential Learning
Pamela Northrup, Karen Rasmussen, Robin Colson. © 2021. 357 pages.
Despite the promise of competency-based education (CBE), learner-centered issues related to support, retention, and program completion rates remain problematic. In addition, the...
A Framework for the Design of Online Competency-Based Education to Promote Student Engagement
A Framework for the Design of Online Competency-Based Education to Promote Student Engagement
Robin Colson, Atsusi Hirumi. © 2018. 18 pages.
Advances in technology offer opportunities for many varieties of online learning but much online learning design is based on past practices and technologies (Hirumi, 2013). This...
Handbook of Research on Competency-Based Education in University Settings
Handbook of Research on Competency-Based Education in University Settings
Karen Rasmussen, Pamela Northrup, Robin Colson. © 2017. 454 pages.
The majority of adult learners are looking to attain their desired academic credentials within the shortest amount of time possible. By implementing competency-based programs...
A Framework for the Design of Online Competency-Based Education to Promote Student Engagement
A Framework for the Design of Online Competency-Based Education to Promote Student Engagement
Robin Colson, Atsusi Hirumi. © 2017. 18 pages.
Advances in technology offer opportunities for many varieties of online learning but much online learning design is based on past practices and technologies (Hirumi, 2013). This...